belief when King Philip was going aboard the Ship at Flushing which was to carry him into Spain The King looking on him with a great deal of anger reproach'd him with hindring the execution of his designs by his private intrigues The Prince replying with much submission that the States had done every thing voluntarily and of their own accord the King took him by the hand and shaking it answer'd in Spanish No los Estadós mas vos vos vos repeating the word vos several times which the Spaniards use by way of contempt as we say in French Toy Ioy Thou thou This particular I had from my Father who learn'd it from a Confident of the Prince of Orange who was present The Prince after this publick affront had more wit than to conduct the King aboard his Vessel but contented himself with taking leave of him and wishing him a good Voyage into Spain For he was secure enough in the City where he was well beloved and where there was a great concourse of people from all parts to see the King 's Embarkment As a further proof of his disgrace instead of having the Government of the Netherlands conferr'd on him which his Ancestors had enjoy'd and which he passionately desired he saw Cardinal Granville his Enemy at the Helm intrusted with all the secrets of the Court of Spain under Margaret of Austria Duchess of Parma and Governess of the Netherlands who had particular Orders to have an eye on his Actions and to communicate no affair of importance to him which made him resolve for the preservation of his Honour and his Life too which he saw openly threatned to support himself with the love of the People and court Foreign Alliances From hence 't is reasonable enough to conclude that King Philip by his ill usage of the Prince of Orange who had done such great Services to the Emperour his Father was himself the cause of all the Disorders in the Low-Countries For had he continued a favourable Treatment to the Prince of Orange according to the advice and example of his Father he had without dispute been a good Subject and never had taken those desperate resolutions which kindled a fire that lasted above a Hundred years and cost the Lives of so many Thousand Men and drain'd the Treasure of the Indies This ought to be a warning never to drive great Courages to despair We meet with a Thousand instances of this nature in History but particularly of Narses This famous Eunuch after all his great Services were slighted for the Empress Sophia Wife of Iustin the Second had sent him word that she would make him Spin with her Women replied That he would weave such a Web that she and the whole Empire should never be able to cover And to make his Threatnings good he call'd the Lombards into Italy who conquer'd the best part of it to which they left their Name This done without returning to Constantinople he stay'd some time at Naples where he died quietly in his Bed in spite of all the designs of this proud Empress who had sent Longinus a wicked and cruel Man to succeed him with Orders to dispatch him But before I enter upon the General History of the Actions of this Prince 't will be proper to say something of his Family leaving the Particulars which would be too tedious to the Genealogists The House of Nassaw is without contradiction one of the greatest and ancientest in all Germany For besides its high Alliances the number of its Branches and the honour of giving an Emperour near Four hundred years since it has this particular advantage to have continued Ten entire Ages and to boast with the State of Venice as a Learned Man says That its Government is founded upon a Basis of a Thousand years standing Count Oiho of Nassaw who liv'd Six hundred years since had two Wives The first brought him in Marriage the Country of Gueldres and the other Zulphen which were preserved Three Ages in the House of Nassaw After him another Count Otho of Nassaw Married the Countess of Viandden who had great Estates in the Netherlands above Three hundred years since His Grandson Engilbert the first of that Name Count of Nassaw Married the Heiress of Laeke and Breda A. D. 1404 and was Grandfather to Engilbert of Nassaw the second of that Name This Prince was great in War and Peace He won the Battle of Guinegaste punish'd the Rebellion of Bruges and was Governour-General of the Netherlands under Maximilian the First He died without Children and made his Brother Iohn Heir of all his Estates This Count Iohn had two Sons Henry and William The Lands in the Low-Countries fell to Henry's share the Eldest William the Youngest had those of Germany This is that Henry Count of Nassaw to whose strong Solicitations against Francis the Fifth Charles the Fifth owed his Empire This was he who on the Day of his Coronation put the Imperial Crown upon his Head Nevertheless after the conclusion of Peace between those great Princes when he was sent by the Emperour to do Homage for the Counties of Flanders and Artois King Francis by an incredible generosity forgetting all what was pass'd Married him to Claude de Chalon only Sister to Philibert de Chalon Prince of Orange who had been brought up by Ann of Bretan his Mother-in-law By this means Rene de Nassaw and of Chalons his only Son was Prince of Orange after the Death of his Uncle Philibert de Chalons who died without Issue William Count of Nassaw Brother to Count Henry embraced the reform'd Religion and banish'd the Catholick out of his Dominions 'T was he who was the Father of the great William of Nassaw whose Life I am writing who became Prince of Orange and Lord of all the Estates of the House of Chalons by the Will of Rene de Nassaw and de Chalon his Cosin German who was kill'd at the Siege of St. Desier A. D. 1544. and left no Children behind him The Emperour Charles the fifth who was so much obliged to the House of Nassaw was extreamly concern'd to see this young Prince bred up a Heretick with much ado he removed him from his Father and placed him near his Person in order to his Conversion to the Catholick Religion which indeed the Prince made a publick profession of as long as the Emperour liv'd and in the beginning of the Reign of Philip the Third But the prejudice of the Education and the new Religion which he had suck'd in with his Milk and had a taste of afterwards at the Court of France where the new Opinions were very much in Vogue when he was a Hostage at Paris for the Peace of Cambray made so strong an Impression on him that he could never wear it off His Father Count William of Nassaw had Five Sons and seven Daughters by Iulienne Countess of Stolbourg The eldest was this William of Nassaw Prine of Orange The youngest was Iohn Count
the 15th day of Novemb. 1623. Signed LOWIS and below Brulart In pursuance of this Order the Ceremony of the Baptism was performed Prince Maurice represented the King of Sweden who was likewise Godfather and the Countess of Nassau the Queen of Sweden My Father Walked as Embassador of France with the King of Bohemia on his Right Hand and the Prince of Orange on his Left The Ceremony was celebrated with great Pomp in a Church at the Hague called the Cloistre where I was present with my three Brothers For which great Honour the King and Queen of Bohemia thanked the King of France by Monsieur D'Ausson de Villeroul of the House of Iaucourt Brother-in-Law to my Father who was in their Service and afterwards unhappily perished with Prince Henry Frederick by the splitting of the Vessel which I mentioned before The Pope's Nuncio Resident at Paris hearing of this Baptism made great Complaints of it at Court and said 't was a great Shame for the most Christian King and eldest Son of the Church to have his Person represented by a Huguenot in an Ecclesiastical Ceremony The King and Queen of Bohemia left behind them several Princesses eminent for their Beauty and Merit one of whom turned Catholick and is now Abbess de Maubuisson The Princess Louise Iuliane de Nassau eldest Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and William Prince of Orange had also a Daughter by Frederick the IV. Elector Palatine who was married to the late Elector of Brandenburg Father to the present Elector I saw A. D. 1635. the old Electoress Palatine a Konigsberg the Capital of the Ducal Prussia where she had retired to her Daughter the Electoress of Brandenbourg after the Disorders of the Palatinate These two Princesses were extreamly civil to me The second Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and William Prince of Orange was Elizabeth de Nassau Wife to Henry de la Tour Duke of Bouillon a Famous General in the the Wars of Henry the IV She was living in the year 1641. and I saw her in the Castle of Sedan after the Battle wherein the Count de Soissons was killed She left two Sons and four Daughters who had Children The eldest was Frederick Maurice de la Tour Duke of Bouillon as great a Captain as his Father who by the Countess de Bergue had the present Duke of Bouillon Great Chamberlain of France and the Cardinal de Bouillon a Prince of great Learning and Merit and the Count D'Auvergne who has distinguished himself in our Armies and other Children among the rest the Dutchess D'Elbeuf The second Son of Elizabeth de Nassau and Henry de la Tour Duke of Bouillon was the Famous Henry de la Tour Viscount de Turenne a General of as great Wisdom and Valour who during the whole Course of his Life was held for one of the firmest Pillars of the State and in consideration of his extraordinary Valour and great Services was interr'd at St. Denys with our Kings by a just Order of his Majesty He married the Heireress of the House de la Force whose Vertue equalled her Birth she was Daughter to the deceased Duke de la Force and Grand-daughter to a Mareschal of that Name two Famous Captains and died without Issue but if she had left any Children behind her they could not have failed of being great Men being descended on both sides from an illustrious Number of generous Ancestors Besides these two great Sons Elizabeth de Nassau had several Daughters by Henry de la Tour Duke de Bouillon The eldest Anna Maria de la Tour married Henry Duke de la Trimouille and de Thouars her Cousin German Iuliane de la Tour was married to Francis de Roye de la Rochefoucault Count de Roussy Father to the Count de Roye very Famous in our Armies Elizabeth Wife of Guy Alfonse de Darfort Marquess of Duras Father to Monsieur de Duras Captain of the Guards du Corps to the King Mareschal of France Governour of the Franche Comtè and of the Count de Lorge likewise Mareschal of France I believe that the youngest was called Henrietta de la Tour Wife to the late Marquess de la Moissy of the House of Matignon She is Mother to the Marquese Du Bordage and the Count de Quintine who married a Lady of the Illustrious Name of Montgomery as considerable for her Beauty and Merit as the Greatness of her Extraction The third Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and William Prince of Orange was named Catharine Belgique who married Philip Louis Count of Hanau a Sovereign Lord near Francfort on the Main from whom besides the Counts of Hanau is descended Amelia Elizabeth Wife to that generous William Landtgrave of Hesse who died in the year 1637. after whose Death this Princess a Woman of a masculine Courage continued on the War against the Imperialists and pursued the Steps of her Husband who after the Peace of Prague where most of the Protestant Princes forsook their Allies and joined with the House of Austria had the Courage and Resolution to make head almost alone against so formidable a Power Among other Children she left the present Landtgrave of Hesse called William as his Father was the Electoress Palatine Mother to the Dutchess of Orleans and the Princess of Tarente Mother to the present Duke de la Trimouille who is married to the Heiress of the House of Crequi The fourth Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and the Prince of Orange was Charlotte Brabantine Wife to Claude Duke de la Trimouille and de Thouars Count de la Val who had Henry Duke de la Trimouille dead lately and Frederick de la Trimouille Count de Laval killed in a Duel in Italy by the late Monsieur Du Coudray Montpensier I saw him and knew him in my youth and because his upper Lip was slit they called him Bec de lievere or Hare-Lip Henry Duke de la Trimouille had by Mary de la Tour his Cousin German formerly mentioned the Prince de Tarent and de Talmont who is dead and who had the Duke of Trimouille already mentioned by the Princess of Hesse The fifth Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and the Prince of Orange was Charlotte Flandrine de Nassau who returning to the Religion of her Ancestors died Abbess of S. Croix in Poictiers She was a very good Princess I knew her but was little and so deaf that she could not hear without a little Silver Trumpet The sixth Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon Princess of Orange was Aemilia of Nassau Wife to Frederick Casimir Count Palatine of the Branch of Duponts called the Duke of Lansberg This is the illustrious and great Posterity of this Fruitful Abbess The fourth and last Wife of William of Nassau Prince of Orange was Louise de Coligny Widow to Monsieur de Teligny and Daughter to the great Admiral de Chatillon by whom he had only one Son the renowned Henry Frederick Prince of Orange of whom we
shall speak hereafter Besides his celebrated Posterity of legitimate Children the Prince of Orange left a Natural Son called Iustin de Nassau who led a considerable Body of Men to the Assistance of King Henry the IV. before the Peace of Vervins He was a Brave Vertuous Man and died Governour of Breda I have heard my Father say that in the year 1616. having dispatched to Court upon some important Affair a Garson Captain named Lanchere famous in the Netherlands where he served This Courier in his Return passing through Breda Monsieur Iustin de Nassau asked him what News He answered nothing considerable but the Imprisonment of the Count D' Auvergne since Duke of Angoulesme Iustin de Nassau asking him the Reason he replied bluntly striking him on the Back for he was acquainted with his true Extraction Don't you know Sir that a Son of a Whore was never good for any thing A Fault which the poor Lanchere confessed to my Father when he knew that he was a Bastard Which is a proof that 't is good to be informed of Pedigrees and Alliances otherwise we are liable to Mistakes and to offend innocently Persons of Quality The End of the Life of William of Nassau Prince of Orange THE LIFE OF LOVISE de COLIGNY THE Fourth and Last Wife of WILLIAM of NASSAU Prince of ORANGE THIS Lady had very excellent Vertues without having the least Mixture of any Weakness incident to her Sex through the Course of her whole Life though it was very long She had been married to Monsieur de Teligny before the Famous Day of St. Bartholomew which was in 1572. and she died in 1620. The Admiral her Father esteem'd her very much both for her Modesty and Prudence She gain'd every Body's Heart and Affection by her Way of Conversation which was easy and graceful and had an universal Respect as well for her true Sence as her extraordinary good Nature She was very well shap'd though her Stature was but low her Eyes were very beautiful and her Complexion lively The Admiral who loved her tenderly and passionately desired to have her well disposed of after having cast his Eyes upon all the Persons of Quality that were of his own Religion and Party he found none so deserving to marry this excellent Lady as Monsieur de Teligny Son of Monsieur de Teligny a Famous Captain in the Wars of Italy in whom he had observed more Valour and Conduct than in any other Gentleman of his time besides his Vertues were so considerable that those who writ in Favour of Queen Catharine Queen of Medices who mortally hated the Admiral have confessed that she and the King her Son had very great Difficulty to consent to the Death of Monsieur de Teligny who had rendred himself agreeable to both of them by his handsom Deportment and by his sincere and noble Way of Acting which shews that Vertue is always attractive from whencesoever it proceeds and that it has uncommon Charms to make it self admired and favoured though in the Person of an Enemy The Admiral then advised this beautiful Lady to accept of Monsieur de Teligny and to preferr a Man indued with so many good Qualities though of moderate Fortune to others who though they had greater Riches and Titles were still less worthy to possess her But she soon lost so good a Husband together with the Admiral her Father in the cruel Day of St. Bartholomew Having heard of this Misfortune in Burgundy her Mother-in-Law and she with the young Lord of Chatillon her Brother had much ado to get into Switzerland to secure their Lives the Massacre of the Protestants being universal throughout all France This great Admiral was Son of another Gaspar de Coligny Lord of Chatillon upon Loyr Mareschal of France under Louis the XII a Famous General who died at Aix as he was commanding the French Army against the Spaniards and of Louise de Montmorency Sister to Anne de Montmorency Constable of France He left behind him three Sons that were very considerable Odet Cardinal of Chatillon the eldest who was Patron to all the Wits and Learned Persons of his Age Iasper Admiral of France who before that had been Governour of Paris and Picardy and lastly Francis de Coligny Lord of Andelot Colonel General of the French Infantry A Son of the Admiral named Francis was likewise Colonel of the French Infantry he signalized himself as well upon the Bridge of Tours by saving the Persons of Henry the III. and the King of Navarre from the Forces of the League and afterwards in the Battle of Arques by which he gained the Reputation of surpassing the Admiral He left two Sons by a Daughter of the House of Chaune de Pequigny the eldest who promised much was taken off by a Cannon Bullet at the Siege of Ostend the other was the Mareschal de Chatillon Father to the Count de Coligny that died young and the Duke de Chatillon who was killed at Charenton The Mareschal Chatillon had likewise two Daughters one married to the Prince of Montbeliard and the other named Henrietta Countess of Adinton and Suze had so great a Genius for Poetry that she has out done Sappho her self by her exquisite Works which are the Delight of all such as are Lovers of Gallantry Madam de Teligny having lived during her Widowhood with a Conduct that made her admired by the whole World she was sought to by Prince William of Orange after the Death of Charlotte de Bourbon and he married her in the year 1583. upon the Reputation of her Vertue But soon after by a Fatality that usually snatches from us That which is most dear she saw him assassinated before her own Eyes having had but one Son by him born a little before his Father's Death who was the Famous Henry Frederick Prince of Orange She had this Advantage to be Sprung from the greatest Man in Europe and to have had two Husbands of very eminent Vertues the last of which left behind him an immortal Reputation but she had likewise the Misfortune to lose them all three by hasty and violent Deaths her Life having been nothing but a continued Series of Afflictions able to make any one sink under them but a Soul that like hers had resigned her self up so totally to the will of Heaven She has told my Father freely that at her coming into Holland she was very much surprized at their Rude Way of Living so different from that in France and whereas she had been used to a Coach she was there put into a Dutch Waggon open at Top guided by a Vourman where she sate upon a Board and that in going from Roterdam to Delft which is but two Leagues she was crippled and almost Frozen to death There never was one of a more noble Soul or a truer Lover of Justice than this Princess But it was observable during the great Differences between Maurice Prince of Orange her Son-in-Law and Monsieur
that I am truly your very humble and very affectionate Servant From Poitiers Jan. 20th 1616. Puysieux Prince Philip and Madame his Princess had so much goodness as to disabuse the Princes and Grandees who had raised a war which they called the War of the Henrys because the greater part of the Heads of that Party were so called Mounseir the Prince was called Henry of Bourbon Monsieur du Mayne Henry of Lorrain Monsieur du Longeville Henry of Orleans and the Duke of Bovillon Henry de la Tour. They told them all that these injurious Speeches were pure inventions to animate them against my Father They acquainted them likewise that whilst he acquitted himself of his duty he all along continued to preserve that respect which was due to them That for what remained there was no reason to object it to him as a crime to have served his Master faithfully And that he could not without betraying his trust and endangering his own ruine but execute such orders as came to him from Court I remember that I saw them at our House in my infancy and particularly the Princess who had the goodness to make very much of us and did my Father the favor to think fit that one of my Sisters who was born at that time should have the honor of bearing her Name of Eleanor She was presented in Baptism by Prince Henry Frederick of Orange who was her Godfather This Daughter was married to the Baron de Mauzè near Rochelle Brother to the Marquess de la Villedieu and died without Children in 1660. She was a Woman who painted the best in France and writ the most correctly whose Letters were all of a vigorous and masculine Stile without one word that was unnecessary Prince Philip died at Brussels in the beginning of the Year 1618. He had the Hemorrhoids very much inâ—…amed and Gregory a German Chyrurgeon having hurt him with the Syringe whilst he gave him a Clyster a Gangreen insued and it was impossible to save him The Princess his Wife died likewise in the same Year After his Death Count Maurice his Brother took upon him the Quality of Prince of Orange and inherited his whole Estate whereas before he was contented with the bare Title of Count. Maurice of Nassau Prince of Orange THis great Captain has falsified the Proverb which says The Children of Heroes are generally good for nothing for though he was the Son of a most excellent Father who left behind him an immortal Glory yet he has not only equall'd him in his prudence and greatness of Soul but has likewise surpassed him in the Art Military and great Performances As the Father for 20 years together made the discourse of all Europe so the Son for 40 years successively did it much more than all the crown'd Heads in Europe for from the Year 1584 when he came first into action to 1625 when he died Prince Maurice was never mentioned without admiration and astonishment as being held for one of the greatest Captains that has ever yet appeared In truth though Nature does not always make extraordinary efforts to produce great men in the same family and succession yet the great Actions of the Father are powerful Incentives to stir up their Children to imitate them The Glory of their Ancestors being a Light which directs their posterity to march in those generous paths which they have trod before them If the vertue of strangers has often stirred up some couragious Souls to do great things as that Greek whose rest was discomposed by the Triumphs of Miltiades sure domestick examples must be much more moving that they may not incur the shame of having degenerated Upon this occasion I shall here relate what I have often heard my Father say in his latter years That he had undoubtedly past his life in the Country like some of his predecessors had not it been for the example of Iames Aubrey his great Unkle who by his Vertue his Knowledge and his Eloquence discharged the office of Advocate General to the Parliament of Paris was Lieutenant Civil of the Council to Henry the Second and his Ambassador Extraordinary to England where he concluded a Peace between Henry the Second and Edward the Sixth and left behind him the reputation of being the French Demosthenes and Cicero by that famous Plea which he made pursuant to an order of the King for the people of Cabrieres and Merindol and which Monsieur the Chancellor de Hopital admired so much that he has translated great part of it into Latin verse My Father therefore thought that by his labour he might arrive to honourable employments and so well ordered the Talents which God had given him that he likewise was employed in Embassies and admitted to the Council of his Princes Prince Maurice of Orange from his very childhood discovered the passionate desire he had to follow the glorious steps of his Father and took for the body of his Device the Trunk of a Tree cut off so as to seem about two foot high from whence there grew a vigorous Sprout which apparently would renew the noble Tree which had produced it with these words Tandem fit circulus arbor At last the Sprout becomes a Tree To show that he would revive the glories of his Father I do not pretend to represent the great Actions of this Prince in all the particulars I shan't say any thing that may be found in common Annals nor add to the number of those who transcribe other People my design is only to draw the Portraicture of his Person and his Manners to inform the World of some transactions of his Life which are not known and to set forth the causes of those great differences which hapned between him and Mr. Barneveld which as it was thought would have overturn'd the Commonwealth by an intestine division that has remained almost to this day and threaten'd its ruine if it had not been prevented But before we come to these things it is necessary briefly to represent his principal Actions and to tell you That Prince Maurice had a great stock of Constancy and Courage from the 17th year of his age when he was called to the government of Affairs upon the decease of his Father for he was not cast down by that torrent of Success which attended Alexander Farnese Duke of Parma Governor and Captain General for the King of Spain who had then taken Bruges Ghent Dendermond Deventer Nimeghen the Grave with a great many other places and even Antwerp it self which was held for impregnable by a Siege which was looked upon as a Miracle of the Age having stopped the River Schelde and repell'd the force of the Sea by a Dyke which was then held as a thing impossible and which afterwards set an Example for undertaking the same thing at Rochel Prince Maurice was not more disturbed by the confusion and disorder that had reigned for a long time in the Common-wealth occasioned by the haughty conduct
Prince who was his Nephew and had been bred up with him at Sedan and the Duke discovered some Ambition to have his Nephew a King when he wrote to some Friends at Paris that whilst Lewis was making Knights at Fountainbleau he was making Kings in Germany But this Royalty did not continue above 6 months so that his Enemies called him a King of Snow because the single battle of Prague in the beginning of the year 1621 lost him all Bohemia Silesia Lusatia Moravia with the adjoyning Provinces and the year following the Spanish Forces marching from the Low Countries deprived him of the Palatinate itself in which he was not re-established but by Adolphus's Descent into Germany Charles Duke of Lorrain who died many years after one of the oldest Captains of the age signalized himself very much at the Battle of Pragne where Count Harcourt was likewise tho very young But to return to Prince Maurice France being so apparently inclined to the Interests of Barnevelt's Party its Ministers which were then in Holland used to say that Prince Maurice would have pretended to the Soveraignty of the United Provinces but that such People who in the beginning had been hottest against Mr. Barnevelt and most devoted to the Prince yet when they fathom'd his designs became averse to them notwithstanding their former obligations besides the Exile Death and Imprisonment of persons who had been so considerable in the State and had likewise a great many Friends and Dependants wrought a mighty change in the Peoples affections to the Prince which appeared very visibly for whereas before when he went through the Towns of Holland every body came out of their houses praying for him with extraordinary Acclamations now as he was one day going through the Market-place at Gorcum which was full of people there was scarce a single man that pull'd his Hat off to him For the common people were so variable that the very Writings which heretofore had made Mr. Barnevelt become suspected by them were now produced as so many motives for their pity and compassion towards him To this they added that the assistance which probably he might have hop'd for from the Elector Palatine was since the loss of the battle of Prague no longer to be expected and the Emperor Ferdinand the 2d having by the happy success of his Generals Count Tilly and Wallestein made himself absolute Master of all Germany even to the Baltick Sea where he established an Admiralty at Wismar reduced all the Princes and Imperial Towns under his Obedience Prince Maurice could no longer expect Succors from Germany whatever Friends he might heretofore have had there But those who adhered to the Interests of Prince Maurice and the House of Orange acquitted him of a Design so prejudicial to the good of the United Provinces by maintaining that it was a perfect Artifice of his Enemies to make him become odious to the People of the Low Countries for said they what probability was there that Prince Maurice ever had it in his thoughts to become Soveraign of his Country since after the extirpation of Barnevelt and his party he never made one step towards it which he might have done having then no farther obstacles Prince Maurice did not long survive a great Conspiracy which the Sieur de Stautemburg youngest Son of Mr. Barnevelt had laid against his Life which being happily discovered some hours before its execution obliged him to punish a great number of the Conspirators throughout the pincipal Towns of Holland The Prince was never married but had several Natural Children the most considerable of them all was Mousieur de Beververt a man very well made and very brave he was Governor of Bolduc after whose death the Prince of Tarentum had that Government and was succeeded by Collonel Fitz Patrick a Scotchman Prince Maurice died in the Spring of the Year 1625 when the Marquess Spinola besieged the Town of Breda And as some pretended it was for grief that he did not succeed in the Soveraignty so others said that it was because he could not relieve that place which was his own propriety and had been surprized by him 34 years before FREDERICK HENRY Prince of Orange Henry Frederick of Nassau Prince of Orange and his Posterity THis Prince was born the 28th of February 1584. He was of a good mein and of a strong make and his parts were as eminent as his person was agreeable He was a very great Captain and equall'd the Glory of his Brother Maurice who taught him the Art of War and lead him into the most dangerous Adventures and amongst others at the battle of Newport where though he was very young he contributed much by his Valor to the gaining that great Victory in a conjuncture where the Army of the States General had before them a powerful body of men commanded by Albert the Arch-duke in person and the Sea behind them so that it was absolutely necessary either to make themselves Conquerors or to perish When Prince Maurice died in the year 1625 he advised his Brother Henry Frederick his chief Heir to marry Madam de Solmes who was come into Holland with the Queen of Bohemia whose Beauty and good Carriage were accompanied with a great deal of Modesty and Prudence she died a little while ago being very antient and her Name was Amelia Daughter to Iohn Albert Count de Solmes This Prince had one Son and four Daughters the eldest of these Ladies married Frederick William the Elector of Brandenburg by whom she had several Children This Prince has the greatest Territories in all Germany they reaching from the Low Countries to Poland and Curland The 2d Daughter Henrietta Emilia married the Count de Nassau The 3d Henrietta Catherina married Iohn George Prince of Anhalt and the 4th married the Duke of Simeren the youngest Son of the House Palatine who died a little while ago The Son was called William was born in 1626 and died the 6th of November 1650 after the business of Amsterdam He was a Prince naturally ambitious and of great Courage so that his Enemies reported of him that though he was so young yet he aimed at the execution of that design which had been laid to Prince Maurice's charge by Barnevelt and his Adherents His sudden death changed the whole face of affairs in the Low Countries He had great prospects from his alliance of England having married Princess Mary Daughter of Charles the first King of Great Britain by whom he left Prince William Henry of Nassau now King of England c. who was born the 14th of November 1650 some days after the death of his Father This young Prince William was very remarkable in his Infancy for his reservedness and moderation his Prudence increased as he grew up and such people as were nice observers of merit and took great notice of him have affirmed that never Prince gave greater hopes than he even in the most tender years He suffered with an admirable temper
would occasion they replyed that a Country spoiled was worth more than a Country lost But in regard this was a very memorable Siege I think fit to say in general that they had built two hundred flat bottomed Boats with Twelve thirteen fourteen sixteen and eighteen Oars The greatest carried two pieces of Canon before and two on the sides they sent for Eight hundred Seamen from Zealand who had all little pieces of Paper in their Hats with this Inscription Rather serve the Turk than the Pope and Spaniard upbraiding them with the violence they used to their Bodies and Consciences This Fleet was Commanded by the Admiral Louis Bossut One of the Seamen having plucked out the Heart of a Spaniard eat it publickly all raw and bloody so violent is the Aversion and Passion of these Country-men They had no Bread in the City for Seven weeks and their daily allowance to a Man was half a Pound of Horse-flesh or Beef but by good Fortune to the City that very day the Spaniards drew off Twenty six Fathoms of the Wall fell down and a North wind dryed up the greatest part of the Water and they must unavoidably have fallen into the power of the Spaniards if they had stayed only one day longer Such an Accident happened at Rochelle for a little after the surrender a tempest broke down a great part of the Bank In this Siege they made Paper Money with this Inscription Haec libertatis imago They Coyned Tin Money at Alkmar and had Five hundred Rix dollars for Five thousand pieces of that Coin Before the Relief of Leyden Ferdinand de la Hoy the new Governour of Holland and the Sieur de Liques Governour of Harlem sollicited the Citizens of Leyden to surrender flatterring them with a good and favourable Treatment They answered him only with this Latin Verse Fistula dulce canit voluerem dum decipit anceps Continuing to perswade them by Letter to a Surrender they replyed That they would defend themselves to the last Extremity and that if they hadspent all their Provisions and had eaten their left hands they should have still their right hands remaining to guard themselves from the Tyranny of the Spaniards and that they remembred the Cruelties which had been committed at Malines Zutphen Harden and Harlem The Prince of Orange after the relief of Leyden was received into the City as a God He preserved and embalmed seven Pigeons in the Town-house in token of his perpetual Acknowledgement of the Service they did him in carrying the Letters of the besieged to him and his Answers back again At that time he founded the University of Leyden setled annual Revenues upon it and endow'd it with great Privileges The Year before the Prince having lost his second Wife Anne of Saxe married Charlotte de Bourbon Daughter to the Duke of Montpensier who had retired to the Court of Frederick the Third Elector Palatine The Marriage was celebrated at the Brill where she was conducted from Heydelberg by the Siegneur de St. Aldegonde She had been a Nun formerly and Abbess of Iouarre The Father a zealous Catholick demanded his Daughter of the Elector by Monsieur the President de Thou and after that by Monsieur D'Aumont The Elector offered to restore her to the King provided she might be allowed the free exercise of her Religion but Mr. de Montpensier choosing rather to have his Daughter live at a distance from him than see her before his Eyes make profession of a Religion which was so much his Aversion gave at last his Consent to the Marriage and gave her a Fortune After the Siege of Leyden a Treaty of Peace was set a foot at Breda but it did not take effect The States of Holland and Zealand demanded the departure of the Spaniards out of the Netherlands the meeting of the States General and the liberty and exercise of their Religion Requesens on the contrary offered to withdraw the Spaniards and a general Act of Oblivion of all things passed and the Re establishment of their Privileges but added that the King of Spain would never tolerate any other Religion in his Dominions than the Roman Catholick The Treaty of Peace being broken of the States Coyned Money on one Side of which was stamped the Lyon of Holland holding a naked Sword with this Motto Securius bellum pace dubiâ War is safer than a doubtful Peace About the same time the Commander Requesens made himself Master of Zirczee in Zealand by the incomparable Gallantry of Christopher de Mondragon who waded over several Leagues of the Sea to the Amazement of all the World and the great hazard of his Troops But Requesens dying not long after the Spanish and German Soldiers mutinyed for want of Pay and fell to ravage all the Country They sack'd Maestritcht and Antwerp it self where the loss was computed at Twenty four Millions in Money and other moveables and in the Destruction of houses The plundering of this great City lasted several days and was called the fury of the Spaniards many of whom made their Guards of their Swords and Corselets of pure Gold but the Goldsmiths of Antwerp mixed Copper with it The Spaniards made Prisoners in Antwerp Count Egmont the Seigneur de Goignie and the Baron de Capres This last making a low Bow to Hieronimo Rhode chief of the Muniteers who sate in an Elbow Chair at the entrance of the Citadel received a kick in the Belly from this insolent Spaniard who told him by way of Scorn that he had nothing to do with his reverence The Spanish and German Troops after the taking of Antwerp living with insupportable Licentiousness and committing great Barbarities the Provinces who continued firm to the obedience of the King of Spain called in the Prince of Orange to their assistance for they lay exposed to all the Robberies and Insolence of those Mutineers and declared the Spaniards Enemies to the King and Country At that time all the Provinces of the Low Countries except Luxemburg which is divided from the rest united for their common defence and made the famous Treaty of Peace at Ghent A. D. 1576. containing Twenty five Articles the principal of which were That there should be a general Amnesty of all that was past That all things should continue in the same posture they were in at that time They took a solemn Oath to mutually assist each other to free the Country from the Yoke of the Spaniards and other Foreigners That all Placarts and Condemnations which were made upon the Account of the late Troubles should be suspended till the meeting of the States General That all Prisoners particularly the Count de Boissut should be set at Liberty That the Pillars Trophies and Statues with Inscriptions which had been Erected by the Duke of Alva should be pluck'd down particularly that which was set up in the Court of Antwerp and the Pyramid he had raised in the place where the Hotel de Culembourg stood which he
February following eight days after the Defeat made sufficient amends for this Loss Don Iohn encouraged by this great Success and hoping that this Victory would be the Instrument of another advanced with great Forces to attack the Army of the States at Rimenant near Malines commanded by the Count de Bossut But the Count had intrenched himself so strongly that Don Iohn was obliged to retire in great Confusion and considerable Loss And 't was agreed on by all Hands that if the Count de Bossut had marched out of his Camp he would have intirely defeated Don Iohn who had a Crucifix in his Colours with this Motto With this Sign I have beaten the Turks and with This I will beat the Hereticks In Iuly the States-General consented to a Toleration of both Religions in the Provinces which was called the Peace of Religion which all Men were not satisfied with by this means a Third Party sprung up called the Malecontents the principal of which were Emanuel de Lalain Baron de Montigny the Viscount of Ghent Governour of Artois Valentine de Pardieu Sieur de la Motte Governour of Gavelines the Baron de Capres and others Thus the Provinces of Artois and Hainault returned to the Obedience of the King notwithstanding all the Remonstrances which the States made to them by Letters and Deputies About this time the States coined Money with the Bodies of Count Horn and Count Egmont and their Heads upon Stakes on one side and on the reverse two Horsemen and two Footmen fighting with this Inscription praestat pugnare pro patriâ quam simulatâ pace decipi It is better to fight for our Country than be deceived by a feigned peace The Malecontents to secure themselves against the States desired that the Foreign Troops might be recalled into the Netherlands contrary to the Pacification of Ghent and the perpetual Edict On the other side the States in order to their Defence treated with the Duke of Alencon whom they call'd the Defender of the Belgick Liberty upon condition that he should supply them with 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse paid at his own Charge This Treaty was concluded by the Means of the Queen of Navarre his Sister who in her Journey to the Spaw-Waters had drawn over a great number of Men to the party of her Brother whom she loved so tenderly among others the Count de Lalain and the Sieur D' Enchy Governour of Cambray A. D. 1578. in September died Don Iohn of Austria in the Camp at Namur of Grief for being suspected in Spain where his Secretary had been Assassinated or of Poyson as many are of Opinion Immediately after died the Count de Bossut General of the States who after his Death desired Mr. de la Nove Bras de fer in Consideration of his Reputation Valour Conduct and Experience in War to take upon him the Charge of Mareschal de Camp of their Army Alexander Farneze Prince of Parma succeeded Don Iohn in the Government of the Low Countries and by his Civility and obliging Carriage to all Men added to the great Promises he made strengthened the Party of the Male-Contents and weakened the power of the States About this time the 22d of Ianuary A. D. 1579. the Prince of Orange laid the first Foundation of the Commonwealth of the united Provinces by the strict Union which he made at Utrecht between the Provinces of Gueldres Zutphen Holland Zealand Friezland and the Ommelands consisting of Twenty six Articles the chief of which were these The Provinces made an Alliance against the common Enemy and promised mutually to assist each other and never to treat of Peace or War but by common Consent And all this without prejudice to the Statutes Privileges and Customs of every particular Province Which Article was broken under the Government of Prince Maurice when the States General assumed a Jurisdiction over all the Subjects of the Provinces who till that time had no other Lords than the particular States of the Province This Treaty was called the Union of Utrecht because 't was made in that City It was râ—…tified by all the Governours of the Provinces and the States to show how necessary a perfect Union was to their Preservation took those words of Micipsa in Salust for their device Concordiâ res parvae crescunt little Things become great by Concord That Year Maestricht was taken by Storm by the Duke of Parma after a Siege of four Months and a Treaty of Peace was set afoot at Cologne by the Mediation of the Emperor Rodolphus but the King of Spain refusing to grant a Toleration of Religion in the Netherlands though it had been allowed in France and Germany the design did not take effect Under the Government of the Duke of Parma many Actions passed between the Male-Contents and the Troops of the States commanded by Mr. de la Nove who surprized Ninove in Flanders and took in their Beds Count Egmont his Wife and Mother with Count Charles his Brother and carried them Prisoners to Ghent where the People as they passed through the Streets threw Dirt upon them and treated them with a thousand Indignities and abuses upbraiding them with abandoning their Country to joyn with the Executioners of their Fathers But Monsieur de la Nove after great Success was surprized himself with the few Men he had with him by the Viscount of Ghent and Marquess of Risbourg The Cause of this Accident was the Sieur Marquette's not obeying Monsieur Nove's Orders in breaking down the Bridge which led to him By order of the Duke of Parma he was carried Prisoner to the Castle of Limburg where he was barbarously treated by the Spaniards who offered to set him at Liberty provided they might put out his Eyes From whence 't is visible how apprehensive they were of this great Captain At last after a long Imprisonment he was exchang'd upon Count Egmont's Swearing never more to bear Arms against Spain of which the Duke of Lorrain and many other Lords and Princes were Guarrantees Besides his great Skill in the Art of War which is celebrated by all Historians never was a Man of so clear and dis-interested a Vertue which he gave continual proofs of during the whole Course of his Life but among the rest one very remarkable Instance Monsieur de la Nove Bras de fer was a Gentleman of Bretaigne and had a Sister married to Monsieur de Vezins a Man of Quality and Fortune in Anjou who had by her a Son and two Daughters this Sister had 20000 Crowns for her Fortune but dying young Monsieur de Vezins married a Woman who was one of her Attendants by whom he had several Children This Megere after the Death of her Husband desiring to secure to her Children the great Estate of the House of Vezins could think of no more effectual way than by delivering the Children of the first Wife her Mistress to an English Merchant for a Sum of Money upon Condition that she
Murtherer being killed by the Halberdiers of the Prince and Papers found in his pocket which proved him to be a Spamard they were undeceived and the People who had run to their Arms to revenge his Murther on the French at the Cloister of S. Michael where the Duke of Anjou lodged retired to their Houses The Prince of Orange to appease the Tumult with much Difficulty writ a Letter with his own Hand to the Magistrate to assure him that the Spaniards were the Authors of this Attempt The Grief and Concern of this great City for the Wounding of the Prince cannot be expressed Immediately publick Prayers were appointed and as long as he continued in Danger the People stayed in the Churches praying to God for his Recovery When he was well they kept a general Fast and the whole Day was imployed in thanking God for restoring to them the Father of their Country When he was in a Condition to travel the Duke of Anjou carried him to Ghent and Bruges where another great Conspiracy against those Princes was discovered The chief Man concerned in it was Nicholas Salvedo a Spaniard who confessed that he had received 4000 Crowns from the Duke of Parma to make away the Duke of Anjou and the Prince of Orange by Poyson or any other way and that he followed them in order to put his villainous Design in Execution Francis Baza an Italian and Native of Bresse one of his Complices was arrested likewise and confessed the same thing but before Execution stabbed himself with his Knife to prevent the Severity of the Punishment which was preparing for them Salvedo was carried to Paris where by a Decree of the Parliament he was drawn in pieces by four Horses in the Greve The wretched Salvedo seeing himself a Prisoner in the Conciergerie accused Monsieur de Villeroy in hopes to save himself by making so great a Man a Partner in his Guilt or at least suspend the Punishment he deserved But no Credit was given to so Hellish an Accusation of a Minister of the greatest Abilities and the most devoted to the Good and Interest of the State of all those who ever had the Administration of France And it must be acknowledged to his Honor that in all the Fury of the League he was the Man that prevented its falling into the Hands of Foreigners and after a Ministry of fifty years died poorer at the End than the Beginning of his Greatness His Father had been likewise Secretary of State and his Grandfather of the same Name De Neville was so under Francis the First and Superintendant of the Finances The Duke of Anjou imitating the Conduct of Rehoboam who ruined himself by following the Counsel of the young Men by the Advice of the Sieurs de Fervaques S. Agnan de la Rochepot and other hot-headed young Fellows that governed him without acquainting the Prince of Orange the Duke of Montpensier Count de Lavall nor any other Lords who were capable of giving him good Counsel resolved contrary to his Oath and against all Justice to seize the same day on all the most considerable Cities of the Netherlands as Dunkirk Dendermonde Bruges and Antwerp it self not being able to bear any longer the great Authority of the Prince of Orange and so limited a Power complaining to be only a Sovereign in Name And for a Proof of his just Resentment and in his own Justification he alledged that the People of Antwerp had taken up Arms to destroy him in his Lodgings and having rebelled against him by so rash an Act he was consequently absolved from his Oath Thus he surprized Dunkirk Dendermonde and some other places but missed of Bruges and Antwerp when he thought himself Master of it for though he had poured into the City 17 Companies of Foot supported by all his Army which he had advanced near the Walls under pretence of making a review of it nevertheless the Burghers ran in all hast to their Arms and made so brave a Resistance that the French were obliged to retire in Disorder to the Gate by which they entred where there was made such a terrible Slaughter of them that 't was impossible for those without to succour their Friends within for there were Mountains of dead Bodies pil'd in Heaps one upon the other which block'd up the Entry and cut off the Retreat of the French of whom there were more stifled than kill'd In this bloody Dispute called the Enterprize upon Antwerp there were killed only 83 Burghers and 1500 French among whom were 300 Gentlemen who were all buried without Distinction in a great Ditch And as the people of these Counties who are much of the same Humour with the Germans in all extraordinary Events make Computations upon the Numbers they observed that this Deliverance fell out in the Year 1583 which Number made up that of the 83 Burghers and 1500 French who were killed that day The Duke of Anjou having miscarried in his Attempt surrendred by a Treaty made with the States all the Places he had possessed himself of and returning into France died of Grief in his Appenage of Chateau-Thierry in the beginning of the next year with the Reputation of a violent and unsettled Temper The Flemmings believed that the Prince of Orange was concerned in the Attempt the French made to surprize Antwerp and his Enemies and Enviers which great Men never fail to have made use of this false pretence to lessen his great Credit and of his fourth Marriage with Louise de Coligny Daughter to the Admiral de Chastillon whom he married after he had lost his third Wise Charlotte de Bourbon who died at Antwerp not long after he was cured of his Wound which was a visible proof as they said of his Inclination to the French who at that time were had in Execration by all the Netherlands Seeing himself thus suspected and that the Party of the States declined in the Walloon Provinces he retired into Holland where he thought his Life in greater Security and less exposed to those Attempts which Superstition on one side and the Reward promised in the Proscription on the other made every one ready to undertake against his Person He chose the City of Delft for his ordinary Residence where at the Beginning of the year 1584. he had a Son born called Henry Frederick Grandfather to the present Prince of Orange who did not degenerate from the Vertue of his Ancestors Prince William employed Philip de Mornix Seigneur de S. Aldegonde in the Management of his greatest Affairs and made him Burgomaster of Antwerp when he left it He was a Man of Quality Integrity and Learning About the End of his Life he made use of Iohn Barneveld whom he valued very much upon the account of his Honesty and great Capacity Having been almost overset with the Tempests which had been raised up against him and having a Heart above the Storms he took for his Devise a Sea-Gull or Didapper in Latin
that he had four Wives His first Wife was Anne D' Egmont Daughter to Maximilian D' Egmont Count of Burem and Leerdam a great Heiress whom he married by the Favour of Charles V. and had by her a Son and Daughter The Son was Philip William Prince of Orange of whom more hereafter and the Daughter Mary de Nassaw who was married to Philip Count de Hohenlo commonly called de Holac a great General who after the unexpected Death of the Prince of Orange which put the United Provinces into a strange Consternation generously resisted all the Efforts of the Spaniards and taught the first Rudiments of War to Prince Maurice his Brother in Law who was at the College at the time of this unhappy Accident His second Wife was Anne of Saxony Daughter to the Great Maurice Elector of Saxony who made head against the Emperor Charles the V. by whom he had the Famous Maurice of whom we shall give a very large Relation and a Daughter named Emilia de Nassau who married Emanuel King of Portugal Son to King Anthony of Portugal who was dispossessed by King Philip the II. This Prince Emmanuel won so much on the Princess by his Civility Courtship and Addresses that she chose him for her Husband as poor as he was and of a contrary Religion and tho' Prince Maurice opposed the Match as advantageous to neither They had two Sons whom I knew in my youth one of whom left a Son among other Children who went lately into Holland to demand of the Prince of Orange the Remainder of his Grandmother's Fortune and many Daughters some of whom were married to Persons of a very unsuitable Quality She was a very good Princess but about the end of her Life having fallen out with the Prince of Orange her Brother she retired to Geneva An. Dom. 1623. and died shortly after of Melancholy leaving six Daughters whom I saw at Geneva An. Dom. 1624. She was Godmother to one of my Sisters and gave her Her Name Emilia who is still alive and is married to the Seigneur de Montrevil near Menetoon in Champagne Her Godfather was the Count de Culembourg Son to Florent de Pallant Count de Culembourg whose House at Brussels was pulled down by Order of the Duke of Alva and who having done nothing after the Address of the Nobility retired into Holland and lived so privately that he died unknown to those of his own Party The third Wife of William Prince of Orange was Charlotte de Bourbon of the House of Montpensier whom I have declared before to have been a Religieuse or Abbess of Iouarre But the Love of Liberty which is an invaluable Blessing prevailed over all the Vows she had made in her youth which she pleaded she had been forced to and had made several Protestations against She died of a Pleurisy at Antwerp A. D. 1582. leaving six Daughters behind her The eldest Lovise Iulienne de Nassau was married to Frederick the IV. Elector Palatine Father to Frederick the V. Elected King of Bohemia who by the Princess Elizabeth of England Sister to Charles the I. King of Great Britain had many Princes and Princesses The eldest Henry Frederick Design'd King of Bohemia with his Father A. D. 1620. was a very handsom and hopeful Prince He studied at Leyden and Our Tutor Benjamin Prioleau Author of the Latin History of the last Regency carried us duely every Sunday after Dinner to play with this young Prince who loved us extreamly which made us the more regret his Death when we afterwards heard of it He perished unhappily in the Sea of Haerlem going in Company with the King his Father to see the Spanish Galleons laden with an inestimable Booty which had been taken by Peter Hain the Dutch Admiral near the Island of Cuba A Vessel by Night sailing full Speed having fall'n soul on his split it in two thus the Prince and all that were in it were drowned except the King his Father who by great Fortune having caught hold of a Rope that was thrown out to him from the Ship was miraculously drawn aboard The Second is the present Elector Palatine who has several Children by the Princess of Hesse among others Madam the Dutchess of Orleans a Princess of great Wit and Judgment who has already Children who are the first Princes of the Blood in France The third is the Famous Prince Robert who has won so much Reputation by Sea and Land having not deceived the hopes which he had given in his Infancy by the Martial and Manly Look which was then taken notice of The fourth was called Edward who lived a long time in France where turning Catholick he married the Princess Anne de Gonzague Daughter to the late Duke of Mantua Montferrat and Lions and Sister to Maria Louise Q. of Poland and Wife to two Brothers Uladislaus and Casimir Kings of Poland She was celebrated for her Beauty under the Name of the Princess Maria. Concerning whom I add this by the way that having been designed Queen of Poland and understanding that I was very well acquainted with the State of that Kingdom where I had been twice she desired me by the Duke de Noailles to give her some Instructions of it which I did several Afternoons and in Token of her Acknowledgment she would be Godmother to my eldest Daughter with Monsieur the Coadjutor of Paris then Archbishop of Corinth who is the famous Cardinal de Retz the learnedst Prelate in the Kingdom But to return to the Prince Palatine Edward He left three Daughters by the Princess Anne of Mantua the eldest of whom is Madam the Dutchess of Enguien already the Mother of several Princes and Princesses of the Blood The other married the Duke of Brunswick Hanouer who had only Daughters and the third the Prince of Solme who was made prisoner at the Battle of Seneff If I well remember for I write all this by my memory which is very good without the Assistance of any Book there was another Son of the King of Bohemia a very handsom Man Godson to Prince Maurice of Nassau called Maurice I saw another Son of his called Philip who retired to Venice for an Action which 't is better to pass over in Silence than mention Another Son was called Louis who died young whom my Father named so for the late King who was his Godfather by an Order of his Majesty which follows Monsieur de Maurier BEing acquainted with the Desire my Cousin the Count Palatine of the Rhine has to invite me to be Godfather to the last Son which God has given him I shall be extreamly glad to pay him this Testimony of my Friendship and good Affection and that you should perform this Office in my Name when the time is first informing him of the Charge I have given you and renewing the Assurances of my Affection to him Referring this to your Care I desire God Monsieur Maurier to keep and preserve you Written at Paris
long Combat where abundance of persons of France England and the Low Countries ran from all parts to see from the shore so extraordinary a spectacle The greatest part of so powerful a Fleet was burnt destroyed or separated and those which escaped put themselves under the covert of some English Vessels and so retreated into the River of Thames or some Port in Flanders The Spaniards lost above 7000 men that were burnt or drowned besides 2000 who were made Prisoners by the Hollanders This Victory was very great and memorable for there were 40 large Vessels sunk burnt or taken and amongst others the great Galeon of Portugal called Mater Tereza was burnt which was 62 foot broad and had 800 men on board who all perished This Tromp was the Father of Count Tromp who was engaged in the King of Denmark's service and gained great advantages over the Swedes In the year 1641 Prince Henry Frederick married his only Son Prince William to the Princess Mary of England eldest Daughter to Charles I. King of Great Britain and Madam Henrietta of France and this Marriage was celebrated with a great deal of Pomp and Magnificence The year 1645 was remarkable for the taking of the important Town of Hulsh in Flanders which was carried in spite of the Spaniards who could neither put succors into it nor make Prince Henry raise the Siege This Prince during the space of two and twenty years that he had the Government in his hands was remarkable for his wife and moderate conduct Because the Princess Louise de Coligny his Mother had maintained Barnevelt's Party some people thought that the Prince following his Mothers inclinations would re-establish that Party and recall such of them as had been banished and among others Mr Grotius But this Prince like a good Politician thought it better to let things continue in the posture he found them in than to embroil'em afresh by bringing a prevailing party upon his back I have seen Mr. Grotius in a great passion upon this occasion and he has spoke very ill of the Prince accusing him of Ingratitude and of having no respect for those who had been Friends to his Mother Prince Henry was very rich but instead of finding any support from England he was forc'd to help King Charles in his necessity with all his ready Money The greatest part of which has been repaid by the King of England since his Restauration to his Nephew the Prince of Orange Henry Frederick died the 14th of March 1647 and was buried with a great deal of State Besides his Children that we have mentioned before he left a Natural Son remarkable for his Valor his name was Mr. Zulestein Collonel of the Dutch Infantry who died at the attack of Vorden Prince William of Orange laid the Foundation of the Commonwealth of the United Provinces and was their first Founder his eldest Son Maurice secured and established this Commonwealth by his Victories which forced the Spaniards in the Treaty of Truce for 12 years to acknowledge the United Provinces for a free State and Henry Frederick Brother to Maurice and Grandfather to the present King of England by the continuation of his Conquests at last forced the Spaniards to renounce entirely the right which they had pretended to that Country so that we may say with reason and justice that this illustrious Father and his two generous Sons who have imitated his Vertues are the Founders of this Commonwealth which sends Ambassadors that are covered before the most powerful Kings in Christendom even before the King of Spain himself whose Vassals they were about 100 years ago Henry Frederick had for his devise this word Patriaeque Patrique intimating thereby that he thought of nothing but serving his Country and revenging the Death of his Father WILLIAM II Prince of Orange THE LIFE OF WILLIAM II. Prince of Orange THis Prince was born in the year 1626 the States General were his Godfathers and by the appointment of his Father was called William after the name of his Illustrious Grandfather In the year 1630 this young Prince was declared General of the Cavalry of the Low Countries and the year following the States granted him the Survivorship of the Government of their Province He was no sooner of Age to bear Arms but he followed his Father to the Army and was present at the Siege of Breda giving great proofs of his Courage though but 13 years old Immediately upon the death of his Father Frederick Henry he took the Oath of Fidelity to the States for the Government of which they had granted him the Reversion All Europe was in a profound Peace upon conclusion of the Treaty at Munster which was done the next year after Prince Henry's death The States considering the vast Debts they had contracted by the extraordinary Expences they had been obliged to make resolved to retrench all unnecessary ones having a great number of Troops in their pay that were of no use now the War was at an end they proposed to disband a considerable part of them William the Second who had succeeded in all the Places of the Prince his Father and knowing very well that nothing but the Army could support the credit of the Places he was possessed of made a strong opposition to this design of the States General He represented that it was against all the Rules of Policy to disband Troops who had been so faithful to the Provinces and that France or Spain might make use of this opportunity to fall upon their Common-wealth in a time when they could not be in a condition to defend themselves The States who were already resolved to break 120 Companies to make some sort of satisfaction to the Prince offered to continue the ordinary Pay to the disbanded Officers The Prince agreed to this proposal but the Province of Guelders and the City of Amsterdam opposed and protested against it for several reasons They who were in the Prince's Interests advised him to visit the principal Cities of the Netherlands to perswade the Magistrates to take a Resolution of leaving not only the Officers but the Troops in the same condition they were in before the War that they might be in a readiness to serve where-ever there was occasion Pursuant to this advice the Prince having sent for the principal Collonels of the Army went in person to four or fiveCities of Holland The Burghers of Amsterdam who were well assured that the Prince would visit them too and apprehending his presence would cross the Resolutions they had taken desired him by their Deputies to put off his intended Journey to this City for several Reasons which they gave him Haerlem Medemblic and several other places followed the Example of Amsterdam The Proceedings of these Cities was so considerable an Affliction to the Prince and incensed him so much that in a meeting of the States General he resented it with inexpressible concern He endeavoured to insinuate to them by a great number of Reasons
of Nassaw who left a numerous and renowned Posterity behind him The Three other Sons were Lodowick Adolphus and Henry of Nassaw who signaliz'd themselves in the Civil Wars of France and the Netherlands They were never married and all three died with their Swords in their hands Couragiously seconding the Design of their elder Brother The Seven Daughters of William of Nassaw were all Married one to the Count of Bergues who was Mother to that Count de Bergues who in our days Commanded the Spanish Armies against his Cosin Germans Prince Maurice and Henry Frederick and afterwards quitted the Spanish Service upon some disgust The other Six were married to Sovereign Counts of Germany one amongst the rest to Count Schouarsbourg who had the misfortune to be present at Antwerp when Iohn Iauregny a Biscayner had like to have kill'd the Prince with a Pistol-shot and at Delft when he was Assassinated by Balthasar Guerard a Native of the Franche Comtè For she never left her dear Brother who loved her entirely William Prince of Orange was of a middle Stature a brown Complexion with Chesnut hair he talked little thought much but spoke always to the purpose and his words passed for Oracles No private Man in the time of Charles the Fifth liv'd with so much Splendour as the Prince of Orange he entertained all the Foreign Princes and Ministers at his House and in short was the Glory of the Emperours Court and his Sons who in his Proscription which he thunder'd out against the Prince of Orange having upbraided him with the Favours he had received from him how ill he had return'd them the Prince in his Apology replyed that he was so far from having any Obligations to the King or inriching himself in his Service that he had born the principal Expence of the Court composed of many Nations the King taking so little care of it that he was forced to desray it out of his own Pocket This splendid way of Living and this engaging manner of insinuating himself into all Peoples Affections gain'd him the Esteem and Friendship of all the World Besides he had a great advantage over all the Princes and Lords of the Emperors Court the House of Nassau having had the Honour to produce the Emperour Adolphus who was kill'd A. D. 1298. at the Battle of Spires upon whom these Verses were made Anno milleno trecent is his minus annis In Iulio mense Rex Adolphus cadit ense When King Philip who had been bred up in Spain came into the Low Countries in his Fathers Lifetime there appear'd such a vast difference between the Father and Son that all the People and particularly the Nobility conceived as much Aversion and Contempt for one as they had Love and Adoration for the other The Emperour was good Natur'd easie of Access treated all sorts of Nations familiarly and talked to 'em in their own Language which won him an universal Respect and Veneration King Philip rarely appeared in publick wore his Clothes always in the Spanish Fashion talked little and still Spanish which procured him the general hate of the Nobility and the People of the Netherlands who hating and dreading the Pride of the Spaniards that govern'd him demanded of him in full Assembly of the States held at Gand to withdraw all foreign Troops out of the Netherlands and use their own Forces for the Security of the Towns and make no Stranger Governour of the Low Countries these Demands surprized and incensed the King who believed all was done by the Instigation and Contrivance of the Prince of Orange but concealing his Resentment he gave the States hopes of complying with their Requests In this Assembly he made Margaret of Austria his natural Sister Wife of Octavio Farnese Duke of Parma absolute Governess of the Low Countries created many Knights of the Golden Fleece and then Embarked for Spain At his Departure he left Orders with the Governess to establish the Spanish Inquisition the in Netherlands and erect several new Bishopricks These Innovations were the Original cause of all the Civil Wars and Confusions so strange an Aversion had the People for the very name of the Inquisition and the new Bishops whom they considered as the Agents and under Officers of the Inquisition Anthony Perrenot Cardinal de Granville first Bishop of Arras and then of Malines was Minister of State and had all the Management of Affairs under the Dutchess of Parma He was Son to Nicholas Perrenot of Besancon Secretary of State to Charles the Seventh who for his personal Merit had advanced him from the Quality of a private Citizen This Cardinal naturally haughty and insolent treated the Nobility in a very imperious manner For which they hated him to that Degree that at last Count Egmont Count Horn and the Prince of Orange no longer able to bear his insupportable Pride writ plainly to King Philip that his Arrogance and violent Proceedings were abhorr'd by all the Nobility and People and would ruin the Netherlands if he was not recall'd in time This Remonstrance was considered as a criminal Boldness in Spain and from that time they took a Resolution to destroy these three Lords and all their Adherents But at that Conjuncture they were constrained to dissemble and recall the Cardinal Great disorders hapning in the Netherlands Count Iohn de Bergues Governour of Hainault and Iohn de Montmorency Lord of Montigny Governour of Tornay were dispatched into Spain with Orders to acquaint the King with what had passed and perswade him to compose the Differences by Mildness and Clemency rather than by Severity and Roughness But both losing their Lives there was a warning to the rest to stand upon their Guard Assoon as the Prince of Orange who was a great Politician knew of the Resolution the King had formed by the Advice of the Spanish Ministers and at the instance of Cardinal Granville who resented his being driven out of the Low Countries of sending the Duke of Alva with an Army of Spaniards and Italians into the Netherlands he wisely judg'd that the King design'd to revenge himself on the States for the Demands they had made him and the forcible removal of the Cardinal which was generally imputed to him Knowing besides that the Alterations which were to be made would infallibly occasion great Convulsions and Commotions he desired the Governess to request the King to give him leave to resign his Governments of Holland Zeland Utrecht and Burgundy which was denied him He was only perswaded to remove from him his Brother Count Lodowick who was thought to give him Counsels which were prejudicial to the Peace of the Netherlands Which he did not think fit to Consent too no more than the new Oath of Fidelity to the King which many other great Men refused to take for this Oath obliging him to root out Hereticks he must consequently have sworn the ruin of his own Wife who was a Lutheran Besides he alledged that having already taken